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LONDON — Stock index futures at 7 a.m. EDT indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow Jones Indices:.DJI) may open up by 0.28% this morning, while the S&P 500 (S&P Indices:.INX) may open 0.36% higher.

European stock markets have moved modestly higher this morning, recouping some of the losses they suffered after Friday’s disappointing U.S. jobs report. At 7:45 a.m. EDT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.35% and the German DAX was 0.28% higher, but there wasn’t much good news to support a sustained improvement. German industrial production rose by 0.6% in February, but January’s flat reading was revised down to -0.6%, and the year-on-year figure remains negative, down 1.8%. Italy remains without a new government, and Portugal’s government came under renewed pressure at the weekend after a court vetoed proposed public-sector wage and pension cuts, meaning the cuts will now have to be made through further public-sector service cuts, possibly to health and education.

What support there is for European markets may be a consequence of Japan’s newly enlarged quantitative-easing program. This morning, the Bank of Japan purchased 1.2 trillion yen of Japanese sovereign bonds with maturities of five years or more, triggering a further fall in the yen, which was trading at 98 to the dollar at 7 a.m. EDT.

In the U.S., the Chicago Fed is scheduled to release its Midwest Manufacturing Index for February at 8:30 a.m. EDT. No other economic reports are due, but tonight sees the start of earnings season, when traditional bellwether Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA)reports its earnings for the most recent quarter after the closing bell. Expectations are low: The highest of the consensus forecasts is from Thomson Reuters, which is forecasting a 1.6% rise in earnings per share, while FactSet is predicting a 0.6% fall in earnings to $0.08 per share and a 1.6% drop in sales to $5.9 billion. Earnings growth across the S&P 500 (S&P Indices:.INX) has weakened over the last quarter, triggering speculation that the index — which hit new record highs in March — could be due for a correction.

Other companies whose stock may be actively traded today include AZZ Incorporated (NYSE:AZZ), which reported quarterly earnings of $0.50 per share this morning, beating expectations for earnings of $0.48 per share. However, AZZ Incorporated (NYSE:AZZ) missed revenue expectations, and its full-year guidance shows earnings per share falling below consensus estimates.